Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos has overtaken Bill Gates to become the richest person in the world, with a net worth of 90.6 billion dollar.

Facebook TV is reportedly coming this August

Facebook TV is reportedly coming in two weeks, according to Bloomberg. TV partners are already being asked to submit the first episodes of their "spotlight" shows. These will be inexpensive, five- to 10-minute shows that are owned by the media companies that have partnered with Facebook, with 45 percent of ad revenue going to the latter.

A Facebook spokesperson declined to comment. By contrast, Facebook’s future TV content that it plans to launch later on will be 20- to 30-minute shows owned solely by Facebook. Some of the partnered media companies include Group Nine Media, BuzzFeed, ATTN, and Vox Media (which owns The Verge).

These TV shows were originally expected to be released in June, but then were delayed to near August, and “people familiar with the matter” told Bloomberg that further delays could still occur.

Facebook TV will be middlebrow entertainment, coming in just above homemade YouTube videos, but well below the likes of Netflix and HBO. Facebook has stated it needs more room for advertisers than the packed News Feed, which could be the main driver behind the company’s push toward longer-form entertainment, as well as incorporating ads into Facebook Messenger.

New Appointments

Axis Bank reappoints Shikha Sharma as CEO and MD for another 3 years

Axis Bank has reappointed Shikha Sharma as the Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director for a period of three years till June 2021, putting speculations of her exit at rest.

"The Board of Directors at its meeting held on 26th July 2017, approved the re-appointment of Smt. Shikha Sharma as the Managing Director & CEO of the Bank for a period of 3 years, w.e.f. 1st June 2018, subject to compliance with the prescribed formalities and receipt of requisite regulatory/ statutory approvals,” the bank said in a regulatory filing on BSE.

Earlier this week, a news report suggested that Tata Sons’ Chairman N Chandrasekaran has sounded out Sharma to hire her as the head of Tata’s financial services vertical. The bank had later denied the reports.

Previous reports also suggested that the bank has hired a headhunting agency Egon Zehnder for the CEO and MD position at the bank.

Shri Subhash Chandra Garg, Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs appointed as India’s Alternate Governor on the Board of Governors of the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

Shri Subhash Chandra Garg, Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs (DEA), Ministry of Finance, Government of India has been appointed as India’s Alternate Governor on the Board of Governors of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), Manila, Philippines with effect from 12th July, 2017. Shri Garg has been appointed in place of Former Secretary, DEA, Shri Shaktikanta Das.

National Affairs

Uttarakhand records second highest tiger count in India

Home to the country’s second highest tiger population, Uttarakhand has recorded a massive jump in the tiger numbers with the Corbett Tiger Reserve becoming home to 45 more tigers since 2015 and the Rajaji Tiger Reserve having 18 more big cats than were recorded in the 2014 tiger census.

Saffron and green flags of the BJP and the black, white and red flags of the AIADMK dot the Madurai-Rameswaram Highway leading up to the grand memorial dedicated to late former President APJ Abdul Kalam in his hometown of Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu. Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the memorial on Dr Kalam's second death anniversary and paid his tributes.

The Prime Minister met Dr Kalam's family, including his elder brother. "It's a happy moment for us. Although there was delay in starting the project, DRDO completed this in record 9 months. Soon, there would be even a planetarium for kids," said Sheikh Salim, Dr Kalam's grand-nephew.

"It's only a sign of our respect and love for Dr Kalam. The Prime Minister honours him," said Thamilisai Soundararajan, president of the Tamilnadu unit of BJP.

Lok Sabha clears bill to amend Companies Act

The Lok Sabha on Thursday passed a bill to amend the companies law seeking to strengthen corporate governance standards, initiate strict action against defaulting companies and help improve the ease of doing business in the country.

Piloting the Companies (Amendment) Bill, 2016, minister of state for corporate affairs Arjun Ram Meghwal also said that NSEL and PACL scams were a legacy of the previous regime which the current government is trying to address. The bill, which was passed by a voice vote, provides for more than 40 amendments to the Companies Act, 2013, which was passed during the previous UPA regime

Union Cabinet clears minimum wage code bill

The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved the new wage code bill which will ensure a minimum wage across all sectors by integrating four labour related laws.

The proposed legislation is expected to benefit over 4 crore employees across the country.

The Labour Code on Wages Bill will consolidate the Minimum Wages Act, 1948; the Payment of Wages Act, 1936; the Payment of Bonus Act, 1965; and the Equal Remuneration Act, 1976, sources said. The approval for the draft bill was given by the Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday. The bill seeks to empower the Centre to set a minimum wage across all sectors in the country and states will have to maintain that.

However, states will be able to provide for higher minimum wage in their jurisdiction than fixed by the central government, sources said.

National Anti-profiteering Authority set up to aid consumer confidence

The GST Council has formed a selection committee headed by the Cabinet Secretary to identify and recommend eligible persons for appointment as the chairman and members of the National Anti-profiteering Authority.

The National Anti-profiteering Authority under GST is tasked with ensuring that the full benefits of a reduction in tax on supply of goods or services flow to the consumers.

"When constituted by the GST Council, the National Anti-profiteering Authority shall be responsible for applying anti-profiteering measures in the event of a reduction in rate of GST on supply of goods or services or, if the benefit of input tax credit is not passed on to the recipients by way of commensurate reduction in prices," an official statement said here on Tuesday.

Cabinet apprised of Indo-German pact to build 'sustainability centre'

The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, was on Wednesday apprised of the Joint Declaration of Intent (JDI) between Department of Science & Technology (DST) and the Germany's Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), Germany on Indo German-Centre for Sustainability (IGCS).

An official release said that JDI was concluded on May 30 in Berlin during the fourth Inter-Governmental Consultations between India and Germany between Prime Minister Modi and German Chancellor Angela Merkel to to promote cooperation between German and Indian scientists on fundamental and applied scientific research.

It includes areas such as policy support, teaching, training and dissemination of information in the area of sustainable development and climate change through inter-disciplinary/trans-disciplinary research.

Science & Technologies

NASA has a brilliant plan to make the total solar eclipse last nearly 3 times as long

The total solar eclipse of August 21 will track eastward across the US starting around 9 a.m. PDT.

NASA will fly "eclipse jets" to make totality - when the moon blocks out the sun - last nearly three times as long.

The jets will use telescopes to study the sun's corona, or outer atmosphere.

The total solar eclipse of August 21 will be the first in nearly 100 years to cut across the entire continental United States.

For most Americans in the path of the eclipse's umbra - where the moon blocks out the sun and casts its darkest shadow - the strange phenomenon of totality will last about 2 minutes 30 seconds as the eclipse tracks from west to east.

In the US, the eclipse is projected to begin near Madras, Oregon, around 9:06 a.m. PDT and end around Columbia, South Carolina, around 4:06 p.m. EDT.

Glow-in-the-dark shark discovered in the Pacific

Scientists have identified a new species of glow-in-the-dark shark that has an unusually large nose, weighs a little less than a kilo and measures less than a foot.

The new species, a member of the lanternshark family, has been named Etmopterus lailae. It lives 1,000 feet below the Pacific Ocean off the coast of the northwestern Hawaiian islands.

“This species is very understudied because of its size and the fact that it lives in very deep water. They are not easily visible or accessible like so many other sharks,” said Stephen M. Kajiura, professor at Florida Atlantic University.

“The unique features and characteristics of this new species really sets it apart from the other lanternsharks,” Mr. Kajiura said.

“For one thing, it has a strange head shape and an unusually large and bulgy snout where its nostrils and olfactory organs are located. These creatures are living in a deep sea environment with almost no light so they need to have a big sniffer to find food,” he said.